Begu upsets Ostapenko as Madrid begins

The tennis is non stop and the spotlight is shining brightly now on Madrid, even with finals in Portugal, Germany and Turkey yet to be played.

The Mutua Madrid is the tournament - Masters 1000 category for the ATP Tour and Premier Mandatory for the WTA Tour.

The women have already begun first round matches, while the men are competing in qualifying.

In the final major lead up event before the Grand Slam in Paris on the courts of Roland Garros, the fields gathered represent close to major proportions.

The women’s draw includes 46 of the top 50 in the world, and only one of the top twenty is missing  - Angie Kerber through her lingering thigh injury.

Results so far:

Karolina Pliskova (6) defeated Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-2

Daria Kasatkina (14) defeated Qiang Wang 7-5 7-6(6)

Anett Kontaveit defeated Venus Williams (8) 3-6 6-3 6-2 in one of the first upsets, although clay isn’t the best surface for the star veteran whose eye is on the grass of Wimbledon.

Caroline Garcia (7) defeated Dominika Cibulková 6-1 7-5

Petra Martic defeated Sveta Kuznetsova 6-4 6-2

Wildcard Lara Arruabarrena defeated fellow wildcard Marta Kostyuk 6-3 4-6 6-2

Julia Goerges (11) defeated Timea Babos 6-2 6-4

Elina Svitolina (4) defeated Alizé Cornet 6-2 6-2

Kiki Mladenovic defeated CoCo Vandeweghe (12) 7-5 6-0

Kiki Bertens defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-4

In the biggest upset of the day, Irina-Camelia Begu defeated Jelena Ostapenko (5) 6-3 6-3

The men’s draw includes 17 of the worlds top twenty - the two finalists from this years Aus Open, Roger Federer and Marin Cilic, plus Sam Querrey those missing.

Mertens wins Rabat - Kvitova Prague

Petra Kvitova (2) and Mihaela Buzarnescu (7) fought out the final of the 2018 Prague Open

To win, Petra would have to claim her first clay court title in three years, and it would also be her third crown for this year.

The Czech star began solidly, taking a three game lead in the opening set.

Buzarnescu struck back, breaking in the middle of a series of long games, including three straight with multi deuces.

The ninth game proved crucial for the Romanian as she converted her fourth break point for the set.  Mihaela served out the set, her fifth successive game, and took the lead 6-4.  Kvitova had dropped her first set of the tournament.

Kvitova again opened up a 3-0 advantage in set two, but this time she maintained her edge, winning several points on the Buzarnescu first serve, and all but one on her second delivery.

Kvitova broke serve twice but stumbled when at the line 5-1.  Saving six break points, Kvitova ultimately relented on the seventh, giving Buzarnescu hope.

Nevertheless, Kvitova reassembled and won the final four points of the next game to break for a third time and level at 4-6 6-2.

Petra was taken to deuce just once in the decider, and her early beak of the Romanian serve proved enough to drive her to the finish line after two hours and seventeen minutes 4-6 6-2 6-3. Just the tonic coming into Madrid and Roland Garros - for both players.

Elise Mertens (1) won the first set against Ajla Tomljanovic in the Rabat final easily 6-2.  However she found tougher resistance in set two, taken to a tie break, after missing a match point at 5-3.

The tie break was quickly 5 points to 1 in the top seeds favour and she needed the second of  two more match points to capture her third title of 2018 and her twelfth successive match win 6-2 7-6(4).

Mertens now moves to 16 in the world rankings, a career high and critical for upcoming Roland Garros seedings.

Ajla Tomljanovic, once 47 in the world (2015), hadn’t been in the top 100 since 2016, until January this year, where she moved into the nineties.

There she has remained until her efforts in Morocco this week which move her to 71 with a bullet.

Men’s Semi Finals:

Estoril

Joao Sousa defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 1-6 7-6(4)

He will play Frances Tiafoe for the title

Frances Tiafoe defeated the one remaining seed Pablo Carreno Busta (2) 6-2 6-3

Munich 

Sascha Zverev (1) defeated Hyeon Chung (4) 7-5 6-2

He will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in an all German final for the title - this will keep the fans happy

Philipp Kohlschreiber (6) defeated Maximilian Marterer 6-2 6-4

Istanbul 

Malek Jaziri defeated Laslo Djere 6-3 6-2

He will play Taro Daniel for the title

Taro Daniel defeated Jeremy Chardy 6-3 4-6 6-4

Kvitova 3rd final for year in Prague

Semi finals in Prague and Rabat were played, as were quarter finals in Estoril, Munich and Istanbul.

Prague 

Petra Kvitova (2) defeated Shuai Zhang (6)

The opening set was a servers delight, with only two games forced to deuce.  Kvitova never faced a break point, while Zhang saved three, two which were set points in the tenth game.

However it was the Chinese number one who set the pace in the tie break, with a 5-1 lead.  Kvitova struck three winners in the next six points, and suddenly had two set points.  On the second, Zhang double faulted, and Kvitova had escaped to lead 7-6(6).

Set two was a quick Czech Mate.  Kvitova hit 15 winners, to add to her 22 for set one, and only surrendered 6 points to Zhang.  The win was finally comprehensive 7-6(6) 6-0.

Petra will play Mihaela Buzarnescu (7) in the final - Mihaela defeated Camilia Giorgi 4-6 6-3 7-5 in an absorbing match taking almost two and a half hours.

Irrespective of the final result, Mihaela will have a new ranking of 32, an improvement from 37 as her new career high.

Rabat

Elise Mertens (1) defeated Su-Wei Hsieh (8) 6-0 6-2 in under an hour

She will play Ajla Tomljanovic for the title

Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Aleksandra Krunic (7) 7-5 6-2

Estoril

Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 6-7(2) 6-2 7-6(3)

He will play Joao Sousa in the semis

Joao Sousa defeated Kyle Edmund (3) 6-3 1-6 6-0

Frances Tiafoe defeated qualifier Simone Bolelli 7-5 6-2

He will play Pablo Carreno Busta in the semis 

Pablo Carreno Busta (2) defeated Nicolas Jarry 6-2 2-6 6-1

Munich 

Sascha Zverev (1) defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-2

He will play Hyeon Chung in the semis 

Hyeon Chung (4) defeated qualifier Martin Klizan 6-3 6-4

Maximilian Marterer defeated Martin Fucsovics 6-3 6-4

He will play Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semis 

Philipp Kohlschreiber (6) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut (2) 6-4 6-4

Istanbul 

Malek Jaziri defeated Jiri Vesely (7) 3-6 6-4 6-1

He will play Laslo Djere in the semis 

Laslo Djere defeated Paolo Lorenzi (5) 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(3)

Taro Daniel defeated Rogerio Dutra Silva 1-6 6-1 6-4

He will play Jeremy Chardy in the semis

Jeremy Chardy defeated Thomas Fabbiano 6-2 6-2

Cilic gone Istanbul 2nd round

Semi final match ups have been determined in Prague and Rabat, and quarter finals are ready to go in Estoril, Munich and Istanbul. 

The top seed was knocked out in both Estoril and Istanbul

Prague 

Mihaela Buzarnescu (7) defeated Kristyna Pliskova 6-2 6-3

She will play Camila Giorgi in the semis

Camila Giorgi defeated Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-3

Shuai Zhang (6) defeated lucky loser in qualifying Jasmine Paolini 6-4 6-3

She will play Petra Kvitova in the semis 

Petra Kvitova (2) defeated Katerina Siniakova (8) 6-3 6-3

Rabat

Elise Mertens (1) defeated Sara Errani 6-3 6-1

She will play Su-Wei Hsieh in the semis

Su-Wei Hsieh (8) defeated wildcard Katarina Zavatska 6-1 6-1

Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Jana Fett 3-6 6-3 6-3

She will play Aleksandra Krunic in the semis

Aleksandra Krunic (7) defeated qualifier Paula Badosa Gibert 6-2 1-0 (retired)

Estoril

Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Kevin Anderson (1) 6-7(3) 6-3 6-3

He will play Roberto Carballes Baena In the quarter finals 

Roberto Carballes Baena defeated Cameron Norrie 5-7 6-2 7-6(1)

Nicolas Jarry defeated qualifier Ricardo Ojeda Lara 6-3 7-6(8), after trailing 1-5 in the second set tie break 

He will play Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter finals 

Pablo Carreno Busta (2) defeated Nicolas Kicker 6-1 7-5

Munich

Martin Fucsovics defeated Marco Cecchinato 7-6(5) 6-1

He will play Maximilian Marterer in the quarter finals 

Maximilian Marterer defeated Diego Schwartzman (3) 6-4 6-2 in the upset of the day

Philipp Kohlschreiber (6) defeated Mischa Zverev 6-2 6-2

He will play Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter finals 

Roberto Bautista Agut (2) defeated wildcard Casper Ruud 6-4 6-3

Istanbul 

The top two seeds were dumped leaving just two seeds in the final eight

Malek Jaziri defeated Marin Cilic (1) 6-4 6-2, continuing the poor season for the Croatian 

Jaziri will play Jiri Vesely in the quarter finals 

Jiri Vesely (7) defeated qualifier Thiago Monteiro 6-2 2-6 7-6(3)

Jeremy Chardy defeated Dusan Lajovic 4-6 7-6(3) 6-2

He will play Thomas Fabbiano in the quarter finals 

Thomas Fabbiano defeated Damir Dzumhur (2) 6-2 0-6 6-2

Siniakova d Alexandrova in 3 in Prague

Second round matches were played on Wednesday:

Prague

All matches were decided in straight sets except that won by Katerina Siniakova.  The eighth seed defeated a valiant Ekaterina Alexandrova and earned a quarter final spot.

Very little separated the pair in the opening set - Siniakova won 88% of points on first serve and Alexandrova 92% on hers.  Both relied too much on their second serve, but only one break point resulted for the entire set.

Siniakova was the beneficiary, and she converted it to take the lead 6-4.

The second set saw Alexandrova serve and return at a level slightly above Siniakova, and it was reflected in the number of points won and number of break chances created.  Two of the eight break points were converted by Alexandrova, enough to cover her one dropped serve, and she levelled at 4-6 6-3.

The decider was almost as even as the first set, with the eighth seed marginally ahead in general play.  Each had two chances to break serve, Siniakova using one to force her way to victory 6-4 3-6 6-3

Of the other second round matches, all remaining seeds won, booking their quarter final places in the process

Kristyna Pliskova defeated Qiang Wang 6-2 7-6(3)

She will play Mihaela Buzarnescu in the quarter finals 

Mihaela Buzarnescu (7) defeated qualifier Antonia Lottner 6-0 7-6(7)

Samantha Stosur defeated Denisa Allertova 6-4 6-4

She will play Camila Giorgi in the quarter finals 

Camila Giorgi defeated lucky loser in qualifying Tamara Korpatsch 6-4 6-2

Shuai Zhang (6) defeated qualifier Elena-Gabriela  Ruse 6-4 6-4

She will play Jasmine Paolini in the quarter finals 

Lucky loser in qualifying Jasmine Paolini defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4 6-1

Petra Kvitova (2) defeated Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-3 6-1

She will play Katerina Siniakova in the all Czech quarter final

Rabat 

As a consequence of second round matches these are the quarter final match ups 

Elise Mertens (1) v Sara Errani

Wildcard Katarina Zavatska v Su-Wei Hsieh (8)

Jana Fett v Ajla  Tomljanovic 

Aleksandra Krunic (7) v qualifier Paula Badosa Gibert 

Estoril

Kyle Edmund (3) defeated wildcard Alex de Minaur 6-2 7-5

He will play Joao Sousa in the quarter finals 

Joao Sousa defeated wildcard Pedro Sousa 4-6 7-6(1) 7-5

Qualifier Simone Bolelli defeated Federico Delbonis 3-6 7-5 6-2

He will play Frances Tiafoe in the quarter finals 

Frances Tiafoe defeated Gilles Muller (4) 6-4 7-5

Munich

Sascha Zverev (1) defeated fellow German and wildcard Yannick Hanfmann 6-7(12) 6-4 6-2

He will play another countryman Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarter finals 

Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Yannick Maden 6-3 3-6 6-3

Hyeon Chung (4) defeated wildcard Matthias Bachinger 6-1 6-1

He will play Martin Klizan in the quarter finals 

Qualifier Martin Klizan defeated Mirza Basic 4-6 6-3 7-5

Istanbul 

Laslo Djere defeated Andreas Seppi (3) 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3

He will play Paolo Lorenzi in the quarter finals 

Paolo Lorenzi (5) defeated qualifier Marco Trungelliti 6-2 7-6(5)

Rogerio Dutra Silva defeated Viktor Troicki (6) 6-2 6-3

He will play Taro Daniel in the quarter finals 

Taro Daniel defeated Aljaz Bedene (4) 6-2 6-2

Cecchinato continues good run

The first rounds have been completed in the five tournaments in progress on the WTA/ ATP Tours and on Day Two of main draw activity seeds tumbled at most venues.

Estoril:

Federico Delbonis defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas (5) 6-2 6-4

Albert began the year ranked 23 and stayed in the 19-24 range until 23 April when he slipped to 40.  This was because he failed to defend the points won from his finals appearance in the 2017 Monte Carlo Masters 1000 tournament.

After losses in his first two matches to start 2018, he hit a good patch of form, making the third round at the Australian Open, winning both singles in the Davis Cup tie against Great Britain, and coming runner up in the Ecuador Open.

Since then, however, returns have been lean for the Spaniard, not just on the court.  Five wins from twelve visits to the court (now thirteen) and all but one of those matches on his favourite clay surface.

Cameron Norrie defeated Robin Haase (6) 6-4 3-6 6-3

Nicolás Jarry defeated Leonardo Mayer (7) 3-6 7-6(7) 6-4

Joao Sousa defeated Daniil Medvedev (8) 7-6(1) 7-5

Munich:

Marco Cecchinato defeated Fabio Fognini (5) 5-7 6-3 6-2

Cecchinato won in Budapest last week, and continues his good form in Germany.  After achieving a career high ranking of 82 in October 2015, Marco has since struggled to make it into the top 100.  However he jumped from 92 to his new best of 59, thanks to his maiden ATP win in Hungary.

His win over Fognini was the first against a top twenty player in an ATP Tour main draw match.

Mirza Basic defeated Gaël Monfils (7) 6-2 3-6 6-3

Yannick Maden defeated Yuichi Sugita (8) 4-6 7-6(9) 6-2

Maden, from Germany, and ranked 119, saved two match points in the second set tie break, and needed seven set points to take it to a decider

The only successful seed on the day was another German, Philipp Kohlschreiber (6), who defeated Ivo Karlovic 7-5 6-4

Istanbul:

Two seeds were amongst the twelve players who strode onto court on Day Two of the main draw battles.

Jiri Vesely was successful, defeating qualifier Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3 6-1

Jeremy Chardy eliminated Nikoloz Basilashvili (8) 7-5 6-3

Prague:

Karolina Pliskova denied fans a battle of the siblings with her late withdrawal due to a thigh injury, and her place at the top of the draw was taken by Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who was given a seeding of #9.

It didn’t do her any favours as Kristyna Pliskova promptly dispatched her  7-6(5) 6-3

Other seeds directed to the exit gate were - 

Barbora Strycova (5), eliminated by Camila Giorgi 6-0 2-6 6-2, a sixth straight match loss for the Czech player

Wildcard Daria Kasatkina (3), sent packing by lucky loser in qualifying Jasmine Paolini 7-6(6) 6-3, a thigh injury towards the end of the match not helping Daria.

Fortunately for the Czech crowd, Petra Kvitova (2) won her way into the second round by defeating compatriot and wildcard Tereza Smitkova 6-1 6-3

Shuai Zhang (6) defeated qualifier Stefanie Voegele 6-4 7-5

Mihaela Buzarnescu (7) defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1 7-5

Rabat:

Although Elise Mertens (1), Aleksandra Krunic (7) and Su-Wei Hsieh (8) survived the first round, the following two weren’t as fortunate -

Dominika Cibulkova (2) was beaten by last weeks Istanbul finalist Polona Hercog 2-6 7-5 6-4

Lucky loser in qualifying Alexandra Dulgheru defeated Timea Babos (4) 2-6 7-6(7) 7-5, saving a match point along the way.

1st rounds underway in 5 cities

A handful of first round matches have been played in this weeks tournaments with no great highlights, perhaps the exception being in Estoril.  The all American match between Frances Tiafoe and Tennys Sandgren lasted two hours and fifty minutes, and three sets, the final two requiring tie breaks.

Set one saw five breaks of serve, with Sandgren gaining three of those, and winning the set 6-3.  His better percentage of points won on first serve was possibly a deciding factor.

Set two belonged to the server, and the tie break was reached with just one break point and that was saved.

Tiafoe won the tie break seven points to five and levelled the match.

Two breaks apiece in the deciding set led to another tie break, and Tiafoe prevailed once again, seven points to four, claiming the battle 3-6   7-6(5) 7-6(4)

Other results

Estoril:

Wildcard Alex de Minaur defeated Gastao Elias 6-3 6-1

Wildcard Pedro Sousa defeated Gilles Simon 6-3 4-6 7-6(4)

Munich:

Wildcard Yannick Hanfmann defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 6-4

Wildcard Matthias Bachinger defeated Mikhail Kukushkin 7-6(8) 3-6 6-3

Qualifier Martin Klizan defeated Florian Mayer 3-6 6-4 6-3

Istanbul:

Laslo Djere defeated Denis Istomin 7-6(5) 7-6(6)

Qualifier Marco Trungelliti defeated qualifier Elias Ymer 4-6 6-3 6-2

Paolo Lorenzi (5) defeated wildcard Cem Ilekel 6-2 6-3

Viktor Troicki (6) defeated wildcard Bernard Tomic 3-6 6-0 7-5

Taro Daniel defeated Matteo Berrettini 7-5 6-3

Prague:

Qiang Wang defeated Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(4) 6-1

Samantha Stosur defeated Daria Gavrilova (4) 6-3 4-6 (retired)

Lucky loser in qualifying Tamara Korpatsch defeated Oceane Dodin 6-2 7-5

Wildcard Anna Karolina Schmiedlova defeated Heather Watson 6-1 6-3

Katerina Siniakova (8) defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-2 7-6(4)

Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Richel Hogenkamp 7-6(5) 6-1

Natalia Vikhlyantseva defeated Carina Witthoeft 6-4 6-4

Rabat:

Johanna Larsson defeated Rebecca Peterson 2-6 6-3 6-1

Sara Errani defeated Zarina Diyas (6) 6-4 6-4

Jana Fett defeated Sachia Vickery 6-2 3-6 6-3

Kirsten Flipkens defeated Petra Martic (3) 3-6 6-2 6-4

Sara Sorribes Tormo defeated Yulia Putintseva 7-6(4) 6-0

Some of the bigger names will be action tomorrow, including Lleyton Hewitt.  He will be playing doubles, pairing with fellow Aussie, Alex de Minaur, in Estoril against the second seeds Raven Klaasen (South Africa) and Michael Venus (New Zealand)